1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to electric lamps and particularly to automotive electric lamps. More particularly the invention is concerned with automotive LED lamp assemblies.
2. Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Vehicle manufacturers are rapidly adopting light emitting diodes (LEDs) as light sources for use in vehicles. LEDs offer various advantages over incandescent lamps, and in particular they can be mounted in relatively thinner packages, requiring for example less of the trunk volume to accommodate the lamp depth. Making lamps smaller is not a completely good thing. Signal lamps must be visually distinguishable so an observer can mentally separate the intended messages. With incandescent lamps, this is achieved by spacing them sufficiently far apart so the differing signals visually do not overlap or bleed into each other. LED lamps can also be separated, but LED lamps can be relatively more expensive, and multiple lamps may not be economic. There is then a need for a lamp system that uses LEDs, but provides distinguishable regions of illumination on a vehicle.